The present invention relates generally to the field of therapeutic treatment of an individual and the treatment of therapeutic systems of the body. Specifically, the present invention may relate to the therapeutic treatment of an individual through body therapeutic modalities and therapeutic systems, such as acupuncture, acupressure and meridian systems of the body, and therapeutic microsystems. The invention may be especially applicable to therapeutic treatment of therapeutic points of the body, such as reflexology points and points such as acupressure, acupuncture, and meridian points, and may also provide for the treatment of one or a plurality therapeutic systems. The invention may also be especially applicable for the provision and treatment through one, several, or a plurality of therapeutic modalities, such as light. The invention may find application for the relief of many common ailments and disorders, such as muscle relaxation, muscle and joint pain, muscle spasm, stiffness, arthritis, and abdomen and intestinal illness, among others.
Acupuncture and acupressure are well-known therapies that have been practiced in many disciplines. Research has been building that may establish the effectiveness of acupuncture and acupressure to relieve pain and to promote healing and improve functioning. The insertion of needles, application of heat, and application of electrical stimulation at very precise acupuncture points is a common practice to achieve these benefits. Furthermore, the therapeutic treatment of the body has undergone various technological and procedural changes, especially in the various therapies currently practiced by present day practitioners. For example, acupuncture, acupressure, and reflexology, among other therapies, may be conducted to identify bodily areas of concern, such as an injured or ailing body part or portion thereof.
Therapies such as acupressure, acupuncture, and reflexology, have also been heretofore practiced for relieving localized and determined pain, as previously described. These therapies may be carried out through modalities such as needle insertion, electrical stimulation, pressure, heat, light, ultrasound or other such treatment, and may have been directed to particular points of the body to treat a specific body part of concern, or portion thereof, either through direct application to the body part or through application to representative therapeutic system points of the body part.
One traditional view in acupuncture, acupressure, and reflexology describes the body as a network of meridians or energy channels that pass through the body and its surface to form meridian systems. Therapeutic points along the meridians may be stimulated, and in some applications unblocked, by various modalities to achieve healthful results potentially for a specific body part of concern, or portion thereof. One modern view may describe such therapies as providing the stimulation of points to provide a response from the nervous system to potentially provide a therapeutic reaction, such as the release of chemicals in the body for the treatment of a specific body part of concern, or portion thereof.
Therapies may have historically provided for the identification and treatment of an area of concern, such as a body part or portion thereof, through the stimulation of particular therapeutic points of a therapeutic system. Such therapies may be considered an alternative or supplement to traditional forms of pharmacological treatment, for example, the application of anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprophin. Therapies directed to therapeutic systems and therapeutic points thereof, such as acupuncture, acupressure, and reflexology, traditionally have been viewed as desirable alternatives to medicinal therapy which may have undesirable effects to the body and can be costly, among other characteristics. However, the identification or treatment of a particular body part or portion thereof, may not be the most efficient mode of treatment, especially when an area of concern has not been identified or when a more generalized therapy is preferred. Injury of one area or body part, for example, may create compensation effects in other areas or parts of the body, potentially creating additional stress, strain, injury, or other undesirable body condition that may not be addressed through previous therapeutic efforts directed to only particular body parts or a bodily area of concern. Therefore, a recognized need exists for a therapeutic treatment for the body, as an alternative to medicinal therapy. Furthermore, a recognized need may exist for a more encompassing therapeutic treatment of the body, apart from past attempts in the above mentioned therapies, that may have only addressed particular bodily areas of concern, such as a body part or portion thereof.
The stimulation of particular points of the body, potentially representative of a body part, or particular points of a therapeutic system, may be provided in therapeutic treatment such as reflexology. Reflexology may provide treatment modalities to therapeutic points of the body or reflexology points, such as acupuncture, acupressure and meridian points. The stimulation of these points may be carried out by modalities such as needle insertion, electrical stimulation, pressure, heat, light, ultrasound or other such treatment. The points, as previously mentioned, may be part of a therapeutic system of the body, such as a therapeutic microsystem representative of the body. For example, the ear may be considered a therapeutic system, and may be considered a therapeutic microsystem of the body whereby specific therapeutic points of the ear may represent a specific body part, or portion thereof, of an individual. The hands and feet may also provide therapeutic systems, and may provide therapeutic microsystems. A therapeutic microsystem may be considered a portion of the body that provides therapeutic points reflecting the whole body.
Reflexology treatment has heretofore provided for treatment through therapeutic systems; however, practitioners may not have understood the interrelatedness and benefits of the treatment based upon a therapeutic system, a plurality of therapeutic systems, and in some therapies as disclosed herein, the treatment of one or a plurality of therapeutic microsystems, or in some instances, the subsequent treatment of bodily areas of concern. For example, a traditional view has been that reflexes in the hands were not as easily stimulated as those in the feet, and, therefore, a less effective result may have been believed to be obtained through hand reflexology. Previous practice in reflexology, therefore, could be construed as having taught away from the treatment of a plurality of therapeutic systems, potentially and particularly, the treatment of a plurality of therapeutic microsystems, as provided in embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, conventional reflexology treatment modalities lacked the more encompassing treatment of the body of an individual according to the present invention, which includes the general treatment of the body followed by treatment of a bodily area of concern.
Furthermore, light therapy traditionally provided a modality for therapeutic application to therapeutic system points, potentially achieving stimulation of particular points. Some systems have incorporated coherent light, such as lasers, as the therapy modality. While potentially achieving desirable results for therapeutic point stimulation, the use of lasers is costly and may require undesired control limitations of the laser energy, among other undesirable characteristics. Other therapeutic light modalities have been used, such as non-coherent light, provided by devices incorporating light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or other such elements for visible light application, including infrared light.
While traditional therapeutic practice may have provided for treatment through a particular modality, such as light, and the application of the modality either directly to the identified area of concern or to particular points of a therapeutic system or microsystem to treat a specific body part or portion thereof, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,238,424, 6,238,425, 5,250,068 and 5,843,074, such practices fail to identify or recognize therapeutic modalities that are more encompassing of treatments of the body, and including treatments specifically directed to treatment through the therapeutic system, such as a therapeutic microsystem, as opposed to particular points thereof, and the treatment of a plurality of therapeutic systems. The conventional techniques of the cited art further fail to recognize therapeutic treatments for the body, and subsequent treatment of bodily areas of concern. These conventional systems further lack in understanding of the treatment of the body and subsequent treatment of a bodily area of concern. Such attempts, therefore, did not address needs for more encompassing therapeutic treatment of the body.
Although such previous attempts may identify application of therapeutic treatment through stimulation of therapeutic points, and even through the use of light modalities, such efforts, as in other efforts previously mentioned, may actually teach away from the features and benefits provided by therapeutic treatment directed to the body and applied to therapeutic systems and microsystems, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
The present invention is designed to address the potential problems associated with conventional therapeutic treatment. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may provide for systems and methods of therapeutic treatment that address inadequacies of previous techniques.
The present invention comprises a method of therapeutic treatment of an individual, including applying a therapeutic modality to a plurality of therapeutic systems of the body; stimulating a plurality of therapeutic points of the plurality of therapeutic systems representative of the body; and therapeutically treating the body in response to such stimulation. A method of therapeutic treatment of an individual, may also be provided in accordance with the present invention as comprising applying at least one therapeutic light modality to each of a plurality of therapeutic systems of an individual; stimulating a plurality of therapeutic points of each of the plurality of therapeutic systems; and therapeutically treating the individual in response to the stimulation. Additionally, in accordance with the present invention, a method of therapeutic treatment of an individual comprises applying a plurality of therapeutic modalities comprising at least one visible light modality and an infrared light modality to at least one therapeutic microsystem of the individual; stimulating a plurality of therapeutic points of the at least one therapeutic microsystem; and therapeutically treating the individual in response to stimulation.